On September 20th in New Lenox: `Understanding Social Security: A Look at the Bigger Picture’

On September 20th in New Lenox: `Understanding Social Security: A Look at the Bigger Picture’

Posted by Matt Baron/Inside Edge PR, Community Contributor

Financial Planner Greg Kurinec of Bentron Financial Group will be giving tips for people to plan for and navigate the Social Security process at the New Lenox Public Library on Tuesday, September 20th.

Financial Planner Greg Kurinec of Bentron Financial Group will be giving tips for people to plan for and navigate the Social Security process at the New Lenox Public Library on Tuesday, September 20th. (Posted by Matt Baron/Inside Edge PR, Community Contributor)

Community Contributor Matt Baron/Inside Edge PR

Are you or is someone you know ready to begin receiving Social Security?

If you are going to collect Social Security benefits in the next 10 years, invest an hour on Tuesday, September 20th, at the New Lenox Public Library to attend a free session led by a retirement expert.

Starting at 6:30 p.m., Greg Kurinec of Bentron Financial Group offers a lively presentation at the library, 120 Veterans Parkway. The session will help people gauge where their unique circumstances fit into the bigger Social Security picture.

Kurinec's talk covers a range of topics, including the benefits of taking Social Security, when to begin taking them to maximize your return, how the benefits are affected when you work while receiving them, taxation of Social Security benefits, and spousal/widow benefits.

The session is for those who have not yet begun receiving Social Security benefits. Whether you are 10 years shy of eligibility or are eligible already and mulling when to begin the process, the interactive meeting will span a range of relevant issues.

Kurinec began with Bentron, based in Naperville, in 2004. Since then, he has helped people at or near retirement through investment advising, estate planning, risk management and watching out for their overall financial well-being.

A lifelong resident of Orland Park, Greg is a graduate of Purdue University's College of Consumer and Family Sciences, having earned degrees in Financial Planning and Counseling, as well as Selling and Sales Management.

In addition to his "Go to Greg" column, which has appeared in the Naperville Patch, Kurinec has served as an expert source and been quoted in publications ranging from Consumer Affairs and Insure.com to FINS Finance and MySuburbanLife.com.

One of the biggest reasons for the session is to counteract flawed counsel that is based on an outdated rationale.

"It used to be that people would be wise to wonder how much longer they would live and so they should begin collecting social security as quickly as possible," Kurinec said.

However, that mindset doesn't factor in the population's increasing longevity. If someone has already made it into in their 60s and is in reasonably good health, there's a good chance they will make it into their 90s or even beyond, Kurinec added.

"As opposed to investment accounts, which can fluctuate or even go away entirely, your social security check will remain the same or grow over time," he said. "You won't outlive it, so it's crucial to strategize carefully and secure the biggest check for as long as possible."

Currently, the earliest age you can collect Social Security is 62. However, your benefit is reduced by 30 percent if you begin taking Social Security that early-and by the time you are 72 to 75, the advantage of early benefits has evaporated.

The normal age for beginning to receive benefits is 67 and the latest you can defer is 70. A typical monthly Social Security check is now climbing toward $1,500, though Kurinec stressed that there is nothing typical about any given individual.

"Blanket strategies for approaching Social Security just don't work," said Kurinec. "Each person's situation is unique and specific, so each person needs to explore this with their own unique circumstances tin mind."

It has become an annual ritual to predict the demise of Social Security, but Kurinec is confident that while it will be subject to modifications, it won't ever disappear: "Social Security is here to stay, and we all simply need to stay current with how our lives mesh with it."

In 2012, after his mother, Jeanne, lost her life to cancer, Greg and his two siblings founded "Jeanne's Journey for Hope" to help other families battle the disease in its many forms. Since then, the foundation has raised more than $35,000 to help families pay hospital and medical bills or as income replacement if the disease has resulted in a loss of employment.